I am a newbie and failed to find a definitive answer through searching the forum.

I have an unlocked GSM phone and would like to purchase a pre-paid Sim card upon arrival in France. As a non-resident, can I do this? Or must I go with the seemingly far more expensive option of buying a card in the USA?

Thanks for any insights.

Yes you can get a prepaid card.
With somes provider you can even get a sim card in a "magazine" in a news stand.

Don't forget to have a 900/1800 phone unlocked.

Hi Don,

If you're anxious about setting it up right (I know I was the first time I did this), just go to one of the providers' shops--Orange, Bouygtel, SFR--to buy the SIM start-up kit, and ask the staff if they'd do the set-up for you. I'm not even sure I asked. The help was simply offered. You may be asked for an address (obviously not if you can buy your SIM at a newsstand--I never knew you could do that). A hotel address will do.

Have fun.

Marc

I also have read and read so many postings in many different forums but am still confused. Perhaps if I list my intention, someone can clarify or rectify me?
Itinerary:
My family and I are flying to Paris in May.
We are renting an apt. for 6 days.
Upon our arrival at CDG we are to call the rental agency IMMEDIATELY.
After 6 days, we are taking the TGV to Avignon, renting a car and driving around Provence for a week. We will turn in our car in Aix en Provence then a take train one day to Lyon, then Beaune, then back to Paris where we will stay one night in a hotel before returning home.
Phone idea:
Buy unlocked GSM phone on eBay.
Buy French SIM card where? In US so that I can give phone number to relatives or in France is the only option? If the latter is the only option, will I be able to buy the card and activate the phone at CDG so that I may call the apt. rental agency?
Many thanks for your guidance!
Michele

You can easily find French prepaid cards on eBay as well (look on ebay.fr), but I think that at CDG Airport there should be at least 1 mobile phone shop of the 3 French operators. I suggest NOT to buy a French prepaid from an American dealer since they usually have incredibly high prices.

I second ebay. especially since you mentioned you would like to give out the number before you leave.

Here is an ebay listing. It has already been overbid though. Seller is located here too.

http://cgi.ebay.com/French-SIM-Card-for-Fr...1QQcmdZViewItem

Hi Michele,

If you wind up not being able to get a SIM before you leave, and if you find it difficult to find one at CDG--it is a very spread out airport and services are not evenly distributed it always seems to me--I'd just buy a normal phone card (for use in a pay phone) for the call to your rental agency, then pick the SIM up in town. My guess is that you'll use up all your minutes on that card as well as your SIM before you're done with your vacation. A phone card ought to be findable at any of the newsstands. (Mind you, it's possible you could find your SIM there, too, though that's more variable. Worth asking, though.)

Have a nice trip.

Marc

Many thanks for your prompt replies.
I have been 'watching' 2 phones on eBay but am reconsidering going this route. For one, if I purchase a phone then I am stuck with a phone I will not use again. Then I have to purchase a SIM card and then also prepay for minutes??? I don't know how many minutes I will require on such a trip.
I believe there are companies in the US from which I can rent a phone I am able to use in France. One fee would mean less of a hassle.
I must sound pretty dense which truly is not how I am in 'normal' mode. I guess it is because I have so much pending on the 'to do' list before our departure.
Any suggestions?
Michele

Yes, you can rent a phone. But it will probably cost you a whole lot more than buying a phone and sim. I do not think anyone in this forum would advice you to rent a phone. If you buy a phone, it's yours to use, just in case you need to go out of the country. It will also be a backup phone, if it happens to have the bands used n the US. I'd really like to find out how many people rent phones in this day and age. Remember, you do not have to buy a sophisticated phone...just one that has the appropriate bands and works. A good phone with + france sim and minutes will surely cost you less than renting a phone. Not only would you be charged daily rental (even if you do not use it), you would be charged exhorbitant per minute rates!

Even renting from Mobal?
http://www.mobalrental.com/gsm/handsets.as...0006DN07NMOBWEB
After this upcoming trip, it might be another decade before I get to travel outside the US.